The late American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”

That sentiment would likely have brought little solace to the Trimble County Lady Raiders after a hard-fought, one-point loss to Oldham County’s Lady Colonels in a first-round game of the KHSAA 29th District Tournament last Wednesday.

It was “one and done” on Tuesday night for the host Trimble County Raiders in last week’s opening round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s 29th District Tournament. The Raiders knew the deck was stacked against them when they faced South Oldham, the number one seed in the district. Trimble had fallen to the Dragons by 56 points (92-36) on Dec. 13 at home.

The Trimble County Raiders closed out the home portion of the 2011-12 basketball regular season by honoring the team’s seven seniors on Valentine’s Day. One of the larger crowds to attend a home contest this season—including parents, family members, friends and fellow students—who were on hand to honor the seniors watched as the Raiders fought valiantly but unsuccessfully to erase a sizable deficit en route to a 65-51 loss at the hands of the visiting Henry County Wildcats.

The Trimble County Raiders fell to defeat in a pair of home contests of high school basketball last week. The Raiders “wilted under the pressure” against an extremely scrappy Gallatin County Wildcats team on Tuesday, according to Trimble Coach John Leep III, falling by a 74-37 score. Trimble returned to action Thursday against Whitefield Academy, a game Leep predicted beforehand would be “a tough challenge.” Whitefield, like Gallatin, took an early advantage and never looked back en route to a 64-50 win.

Despite a ragged start Trimble County’s Lady Raiders put together a great defensive effort to overcome the visiting Henry County Lady Wildcats Monday in a 57-32 rout on Senior Night.

“The effort tonight I thought defensively is what made the difference in the game,” Trimble Coach Kerrie Stewart said after the game. “We started out a little sluggish, a little slow. It was a different lineup than what we’re familiar with.”

Carroll’s Dallas Gibson was too hot to handle for the visiting Trimble County Raiders. He used his repertoire of inside post moves, grabbed offensive rebounds for put-backs and hit 10-12 free throws for a 30-point, 17-rebound-performance, en route to a 67-55 Panther victory Tuesday, Jan. 31.

“I was really proud of Dallas,” head coach Carroll Yager said. “… He just played really, really well, big difference for us for sure.”